Brands must catch up to their media counterparts on appealing to CALD audiences
If you’re one of the 5 million Australians that speak another language, then the chances are you can find media that speaks to you in the language you wish. Mark Saba, founder of LEXIGO, Australia’s leading translation and multicultural communication agency, argues brands need to do more to catch up with their media counterparts. It’s not enough to simply advertise around culturally diverse content, the brand needs to speak the language and immerse itself in the culture.
Media and media production is quick to take opportunities not just to grow a traditional set of content but to expand into new, niche areas such as culturally and linguistically diverse (CALD) programming.
SBS World Watch speaks to the diaspora with news, programs and radio from hundreds of countries around the world. ABC TV has recently launched the program India Now!, which no longer seems niche as according to the last census 710,000 people living in Australia were born in India. That doesn’t begin to count the millions of second generations of Indian descent or native language speakers.
So, if the media can see it, and broadcasters are doing it, why are brands and businesses so slow on the uptake? If the census results show us anything, it’s that Australia is more diverse and multicultural than we ever have been before.
